Welcome to the FinTech Times, a weekly newsletter covering the biggest FinTech news from around the globe. If you want to read F|T before anyone else, make sure to subscribe using the form at the bottom of this page.
Shopify announces self-designed PoS card reader to grab US customers from Square(BETAKIT)
The product will only be available in the US, Shopify’s biggest market.
STACK RECOMMENDS: Millennial money: the experience economy(THE TIMES)
“Millennials turn to experience economy to escape ‘bleak financial future.’”
– Miro Pavletic, CEO and co-founder of STACK
Mastercard unveils fingerprint-scanning card(ITPROPORTAL)
Mastercard’s new fingerprint-scanning card allows consumers to make purchases without the card ever leaving their hands.
Simple is closing some customer bank accounts, and users are mad as hell(TECHCRUNCH)
Online banker Simple has begun notifying some customers that it will close their accounts on May 13 because it has run out of time to move them from one banking system to another.
Western Union and MoneyGram unveil Facebook Messenger bots; Mastercard and Amex pile in(FINEXTRA)
MoneyGram and Western Union have both launched bots that let customers in the US send money transfers to tens of thousands of locations around the world through Facebook Messenger.
FinTech has a talent problem(BUSINESS INSIDER)
Australia’s FinTech industry has been slower to scale than those of the UK and US, partly due to a lack of available talent.
Flexiti Financial announces first two members of its advisory board(BETAKIT)
Diane J. Brisebois and Rick Padulo will form Flexiti Financial’s advisory board and work with the company’s senior executive team to help it grow as a “trusted partner” to retailers across Canada.
Lloyds partners Microsoft to pilot facial recognition access to online banking(FINEXTRA)
UK-based Lloyds is the latest bank to jump on the biometric bandwagon with new plans to let users login into their accounts with a selfie or a fingerprint.
Alibaba’s Ant Financial may have won the bidding war for MoneyGram after upping its offer to $1.2B(TECH CRUNCH)
The firm initially bid $880 million for MoneyGram back in January, but now it has increased its offer from $13.25 per share for NASDAQ-listed MoneyGram to $18.00 following a counter bid from Euronet lodged in March.
Indian FinTech startup Perfios raises $6.1M in Series A(CROWD FUND INSIDER)
The funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firmed based in New York.
PayPal and Google get cozy with new digital wallet partnership(BLOOMBERG)
The partnership lets PayPal’s users link ther accounts to Android Pay, Google’s digital wallet, to make purchases at retailers in-store, in-app, and online.
Japan’s Nomura partners Google, IBM & Amazon for FinTech program in India(CCN)
Japanese global investment bank Nomura is welcoming Indian startups to build and develop solutions specifically in capital markets and investment banking.
Shopify hopes “tens of millions” of consumers will use new Shopify Pay within a year(BETAKIT)
Launching globally, the new Shopify Pay lets customers save their shipping and credit card information to reduce the amount of time it takes to purchase with Shopify Merchants.
Irish FinTech start-up Rubicoin raises a further €1.4m(THE IRISH TIMES)
The company’s backers include Enterprise Ireland and US-based investment advice group Motley Fool.
UK is capital of Europe for FinTech unicorns(TELEGRAPH)
Britain houses four FinTech unicorns – companies valued at $1 billion or more – with a combined valuation of $18.5 billion, according to a report by the technology investment bank GP Bullhound.
Will blockchain technology be the ultimate disrupter? Harvard says yes(INC)
Say goodbye to the middleman for your financial transactions. Blockchain technology will change the way you do everything.
Wave hires new SVP of marketing as it rebrands to financial services for entrepreneurs(BETAKIT)
Neil Shankman, who has held roles at Google, will be Wave’s new SVP of marketing. It’s a period of high growth for the 150-person company, which had 89 people just six months ago.
FinTech gets serious about personal finance(FORBES)
Here are three areas in personal finance in which FinTech apps are making an impact.
Goldman Sachs managing director joins blockchain startup Chain(COINDESK)
Tom Jessop will serve as Chain’s new president and be chiefly responsible for pursuing commercial opportunities for the firm.
Nasdaq formalises FinTech venture programme(FINEXTRA)
The minority stake investments made by Nasdaq Ventures are expected to range from less than $1 million to approximately $10 million and will include seed to late-stage venture rounds.